Hades didn't lie. Every Light Guardian was able to see the three through Azresol's eyes. They all saw the monsters. She showed them their guardian and human forms. They all heard her message - her warning - her call to action. The hunt for the Dark Star Emperors began the moment Azresol perished.

While Anne ran, she continued to apologize under her breath to Nina and Kira. Out of everything she was, she never believed herself to be a coward, but after seeing their power in person, they weren't something that can be beaten by any Light Guardian. She threw up by the mere thought of those monsters. They felt more powerful than anything. Even more powerful than the behemoth that brought destruction to this city.

As she ran, she eventually tripped. She laid their on the ground for a few moments crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can't beat them. They're too strong," Anne said.

"Would that stop you?" a dark voice came to Anne. She looked up and saw a black, still-beating heart. She could feel the same presence of the Night Demon that destroyed the city. Anne grabbed the heart and was about to finish it off, but the heart spoke to her in her mind.

"Kill me and the Dark Stars will win. I can give you the means to defeating them."

"What could you possibly give, Night Demon?" Anne asked as she began to crush the heart in one palm.

"Power. Power to avenge your friends. That's what you want, isn't it?" the heart said. And suddenly Anne was given a surge of energy flowing through her. Her body felt stronger. It felt good and it was just a taste of it.

Anne began to snicker and laugh. She held in her hands a weapon - the heart of Hydrapurge - that she believed to be the answer to her problems.

Meanwhile, Venomion and Cainus knew who those three girls were. Those two knew that they weren't monsters. That one party was enough to show those two that they were just a regular family - albeit slightly dysfunctional, they thought.

Mirey was planning on fighting the three of them just for the black coins, but Venomion and Cainus convinced her about staying at the bakery. Mirey did put in a lot of work towards the bakery, and didn't want to abandon it.

However, what did convince her to stay was seeing Joe's Bakery still open, too. He and his family were out of town when the storm hit, and he just came back as soon as the clouds cleared. And to Mirey's displeasure, everything but Joe's bakery was untouched by the storm. Mirey knew that if she left the bakery, then that would mean admitting defeat to Joe. And she wouldn't have that. So, Mirey's Bakery stayed open with Joe's Bakery across the street.

As Mirey was starting a new work-day scheming up ways to defeat her competition, Mosaic came through the door. She was aware of the three Dark Stars, but didn't feel any kind of hatred or fear towards them. They actually reminded her of herself, so she decided not to bother them.

She asked Mirey, Venomion, and Cainus if they were hiring.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mirey was skeptical at first and asked, "What are your qualifications?"

Mosaic replied, "I have tentacles in my arm."

"You're in," Venomion said. And she was hired just like that.

Although, her appearance freaked them out at first, they were quick to accept her for who she was. However, Mirey did make sure she was kept in the back of the bakery assisting Cainus, but Mosaic didn't mind. It was fun for her to work in a little bakery.

The only two functioning businesses were still open in the ruins of the city. However, those two shops became symbols for rebuilding the city. When the city was built up once more, those two bakeries were considered legends for surviving the terrible storm. And New Janken City was born after a few years of work.

Meanwhile, during the aftermath of the storm, armies of shopkeepers could be found outside picking up fallen black coins with a trash picker upper. While one of the shopkeepers was collecting black coins, he came across Azresol's body - or her pieces of armor laying around. He didn't pay any attention to it, but the pieces began to shudder. They came slowly back together and formed back into Azresol. However, she was entirely gray. Her wings were gone. Her radiance was reduced to nothing. She looked at her hands and walked away not remembering anything.

And in the hospital, Yune was found looking around. She went up to Eli's room to find that nobody was there. She immediately became worried for Eli's safety after seeing her bed empty. But when she noticed that when people vanished, their clothes remained. There weren't any clothes on Eli's bed, so she thought that either Eli was naked or that she wasn't absorbed by that creature. She chose to believe in the latter. Her equipment had also moved as if they were pushed away. Also, the framed picture of Eli, Yune, and Mizu wasn't there.

She shouted her name, but there was no response throughout the whole hospital. She worried for her, but since she didn't see any body or pile of clothes that belonged to her, she believed that she was safe.

Yune left and saw that Jack and Mary were in a slightly damaged car with the keys in. They were in their human forms ready to leave. And so, the three of them hopped inside. Jack was in the driver's seat. Yune sat in the passenger seat and was the only one with her seat belt on. Mary lied on the back seat eating boxes of chocolate chip cookies.

"Where to?" Jack asked.

"What about Rickeyland?" Mary asked, "I've never been there."

Mary chowed down on cookies, while Yune began thinking of possibilities. She could suggest places to hide out or run away, but after today, she just felt like going with the flow.

Yune took out her phone. She looked at the picture of the three of them smiling and laughing happily outside of the school's nurse room. Jack was covered in band-aids. Mary laughed alongside Jack. And Yune took the picture like a selfie. She smiled knowing that the three of them were once that, and could still be like that. They weren't her original family, but after everything that's happened, this felt like one. Yune didn't forgive Jack, but after experiencing their minds together, she felt like Jack was a different person than the one who tried to kill Mizu.

Jack and Mary looked at Yune's phone to see that picture. Each one of them felt the same thoughts as Yune. Their marks glowed for a brief second. Jack, Mary, and Yune all smiled at the thought of being a family.

And then, Yune put away her phone.

Yune conjured her chains and spun a pointed rock on the ground. When it was done spinning, it pointed straight.

"Let's go that way," Yune said as she pointed straight without having any worry. As long as they were together, they would be happy and safe.

"Alright," Jack said with a smile. She pressed down on the pedal and surprised the other two. Then, Jack drove normally and went on their way.

"If we see Rickeyland, then we'll stop by," Yune said to Mary.

"Yay!" Mary shouted as she ate more cookies while watching cartoons on her phone.

Yune, Jack, and Mary went forward on clean, empty road surrounded by ruins. Even knowing that they were being hunted, they each looked up at the clear, bright, blue sky reminding them that whether they lost today, there was still tomorrow.